Philippians 2:6-8
Thoughts from Katie Fox
Dive Deeper
“who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:6-8
Behind the Scenes
Why did God make us? Have you ever really pondered these questions of why you and I were put on this earth? One of the great mysteries of our faith is that there is one God, but He exists as three distinct persons: Father, Son and Spirit. These persons of God existed in prefect mutual love, joy, and service to one another. They lacked nothing and needed nothing.
God is by nature love and by nature He designs and creates. God created the universe and humans to bring Him glory and to share in the perfect love experienced by the Father, Son and Spirit. God created us in His image and our mission was to represent His rule throughout the earth. But we failed to reflect His image and represent God. We wanted to be God. We rebelled.
Genesis 3 covers the story of our rebellion if you want more detail, but basically human rebellion resulted in a fallen world and humans that are born with brokenness and selfishness in our hearts. Not only do we possess this evil in our hearts, but we are totally helpless to save ourselves, to solve the problems of our world, to make ourselves better people. We deserved God’s wrath, but God had a plan.
The Son left behind his power and privileges, the comfort and joy, the perfect peace and love of heaven and became incarnated as a human Jesus. This person, both fully God and fully human, was the Christ or messiah who’s coming had been predicted for centuries by Hebrew prophets. With Jesus’ birth, the Kingdom of God broke into our fallen world and began the process of healing us and all creation. He was the perfect image bearer of God. He lived a perfect life, with no evil, no sin, no selfishness.
Jesus’ death on the cross was a punishment that we deserved but that He endured instead. He endured the wrath of the Father that we deserved. He endured the separation from God’s love that we deserved. When Jesus rose from the dead after three days, His victory was complete. Like yeast in bread dough, the Kingdom of God started spreading through the world, healing the world, healing me, healing you. One day when Jesus returns, the healing will be complete.
In this letter, the apostle Paul urges us to look at Christ’s great example of love, service, and humility. He left heaven and all its majesty to come to earth to walk dusty roads, to preach, to endure hatred, to be spit upon, to be beaten, to be crucified. Jesus the Son, the Christ, loved us so much that he endured all these things to save us. If you ever doubt your worth or wonder if God loves you, ponder these truths. As image bearers of God, we are called to copy Christ, the perfect image bearer of God the Father. This is not easy.
Make it Real
By nature, we tend to be selfish creatures. Even our acts of goodness are rooted in selfish desires that often bury themselves so deep in our subconscious that we are unaware of them. When we say yes to Jesus as Lord of our lives, we begin a lifelong process of becoming more like him. As we approach this Christmas season, ponder that Jesus Christ came into our world as a helpless babe and experienced life just like us. He did not take any shortcuts. He left behind the beauty of Heaven so that He could serve us. And He did this for all people, even those that hated Him.
We are called to copy Christ in this humble service of love. We are called to love and serve people that we love and that we do not love. We are called to serve people that love us and hate us. Our hearts rebel against this mission, but that is why the Spirit, that third person of God, was sent by Jesus to help us. Once we say yes to Jesus, the Spirit walks with us through life, teaching us the ways of God and empowering us to live out those ways. We could not do this in our own power.
With this Spirit power, we can humbly love and serve others. What about that person that hates you at work? It might mean buying them a coffee and listening to the challenges they are facing in their life. What about the jerky driver on the Glenn Highway during the morning commute? It might mean ignoring rude hand gestures and letting them merge around you. This does not mean enduring abuse or being exploited, but it does mean wise, humble, and loving service of your fellow humans, no matter your opinion of them.
You do this empowered by the Spirit with hearts of love and humility. And gratitude. This Thanksgiving as you gather and eat meals, play games, and watch football, let gratitude flood your heart. Thank God for all your blessings, for Jesus, and his humble heart of love for you.
Johnny Spence
ACF Devo Team
End in Prayer
Jesus,
Thank you for leaving the comforts of heaven to save me. Give me the humility and the love to serve others no matter whether they love or hate me, no matter their status, no matter their background. Work this love and humility into my heart until it becomes second nature. Fill my heart with gratitude for all you have done for me.
Amen